3rd Sunday of Lent

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Lent are:

1. Exodus 20: 1-17
2. Psalms 19: 8, 9. 10, 11
3. 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25
4. John 2: 13-25

• Times and seasons
• Our Catholic calendar is a who's who of feast days, solemnities,  and seasons, each meant to remind us, among other things, that all time is holy, all time belongs to God.
• How successful are you at setting aside time faithfully to relax in God?
• If you suddenly had nothing urgent demanding your attention on Sunday afternoons, what would you do with all of that time?
• How do you define urgent?

• Where is that written down?
• My father-in-law sums up the Catholicism of his day as "pay, pray, and obey".
• If someone were to ask you what defines the Catholic experience, what would you tell them?
• If someone asked you what they had to believe in order to be Catholic, what would you tell them?
• By that definition, how Catholic are you?

• God arrives clothed in weakness
• Jesus came as a poor, humble man.  You can argue that God disguised His divinity, that the Incarnation was a colossal concession on God's part to reach us.
• But what if that poverty is a reflection of at least a part of God's nature?  Does that change the way that you look at those less fortunate, those who are at the margins?
• Have you ever been brushed aside, taken advantage of, robbed of your voice?
• Can you find Jesus in the midst of that?

• Purification
• Do you feel that your life has too many distractions in it, that you are pulled in too many ways?
• What are you doing to simplify?
• How will you know when you are done?
• What blessings have you already received from that simplification?

Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. What in my life belongs to God alone?
2. What am I doing to nourish the essentials of my faith?
3. How can I embrace weakness within and without?
4. Is there anything that can/should be pruned from my life to give me sharper focus?

Shalom!